The Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci Oddi (Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art) is an art museum, located on via San Siro #13 in Piacenza, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The museum displays a collection of Modern Art from the last two hundred years.
History
The gallery was founded in its own building due to the patronage of the local jurist and collector, Giuseppe Ricci Oddi (1868–1936). The building was constructed in 1931 using designs by Giulio Ulisse Arata on land adjacent to a deconsecrated convent, donated by the commune. The collections have expanded over the decades. The museum has today about 400 works of many local, mostly Italian, and some international painters.[1]
In 1997, the Portrait of a Lady by Gustav Klimt was stolen from this Gallery. The story is convoluted. After the theft, the frame was found in the roof of the gallery. Soon after the theft, on 1 April 1997, border police at the Italian/French frontier at Ventimiglia intercepted a package addressed to a former Italian prime minister. The package contained a high quality forgery of the painting. By 2016, the investigators in the case had spoken to someone who claimed to have replaced the original painting from the gallery with a forgery (likely the one intercepted at Ventimiglia). The art thief claimed to have stolen both the original and the forgery. The thief predicted the painting would soon be returned.[4]
In December 2019, a gardener clearing ivy from the building’s walls discovered a small trapdoor behind, and upon opening it, found the painting wrapped in a plastic bag. It is unlikely that the painting has remained there since its disappearance.[5]